Bernie Raises Big Bucks: $10 Million in First Week

The Vermont senator’s presidential campaign, which launched just one week ago, said it raised $10 million from nearly 360,000 people.

By NTK Staff | 02.26.2019 @9:43am

In just one week on the campaign trail, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is proving that he is still the same fundraising powerhouse that he was in 2016 when he ran against Hillary Clinton. His campaign announced it raised $10 million in its first week, and those donations came from 359,914 individual donors. The result is an average donation of $26 per person.

And those donations are not just coming from people who supported Sanders in the past:

Officials reportedly said almost 39% of the donors have used email addresses that weren’t previously given to the Sanders campaign — suggesting that the senator is expanding the donor network for his second White House bid (though some may have updated their contact information).

According to the campaign, $2.5 million from Sanders’ first-day $5.9 million haul came from those 39 years old and younger.

But most impressive for Sanders, perhaps, are the recurring donations he’s secured. The campaign says 48,000 people have signed up to give Sanders recurring monthly donations of some amount, giving the campaign the ability to include that money in its monthly budget – something few other campaigns are able to do.

Sanders’ campaign has an uphill climb on a number of fronts, but he’s proving he’s every bit the fundraiser that he was in 2016.